National Programme for Energy Efficiency in Multifamily Residential Buildings

The programme was dedicated to the renovation of multifamily residential buildings up to energy class C at 100% grant rate, on a first-come, first-served principle. No social criteria for eligibility were applied, meaning that even high-income households were eligible for the 100% subsidy. No technical monitoring of the results was applied – the statements about the energy savings were based on “normalised” energy audits and surveys with beneficiaries. Although the measures definitely had positive impact on households at risk of energy poverty (reaching up to 50% as per our estimation), the results could be much better if higher energy targets and differentiated eligibility criteria were applied. Understandably, the scope of the programme was relatively small, as €1 billion was sufficient for about 4% of the eligible buildings. Given the fact that the execution of the programme spread over five years, it is obvious that at this rate, there is no way that all households will be served, and of course, no other programmes or financing instruments offering different conditions can compete with this one.